He Scents Thy Footsteps in the Snow
by AShadowedLife
Summary: A story of the romance between Nancy and Bill Sikes. Love is one of life's deepest ties between people, but what happens when that love becomes too much? Please R&R! DISCONTINUED...
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, loves!_

_Okay, this is my first Oliver Twist fanfiction, so I hope that I can keep IC enough. I'm mainly basing this on the 1968 musical with Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed as Nancy and Bill Sikes._

_Hope you enjoy this! Please review =)_

_Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of Nancy, Bill Sikes, The Artful Dodger, Charley Bates, Bet, Fagin or Oliver Twist._

_The other characters (as far as I know for who I'm including in this story) are purely of my own imagination._

____________________________________________________________________________

She looked down at her wrist. It was nasty – red and itchy. _So _itchy. When had she done that? Then she spotted her rather nasty-looking fingernails. _Oh._

She suddenly realised why it was that her wrist was red and sore. She had been itching it subconsciously.

The young girl – for that's all she was after all – was perched on the rickety stool in her deep red, flowing skirts and a tightly laced corset, which happened to be showing off her lovely, albeit not completely developed, figure.

"Nancy!" a sharp voice commanded, making the girl jump with her already fragile nerves. Bunching up her heavy skirts, Nancy stumbled over to the women from whose mouth her name had been emitted.

"Y-yes, ma'am?" the girl nervously stuttered. Mrs Thorn cast her hard, intimidating stare down on Nancy. "It's time, girl."

Tears slowly formed in her eyes – not tears of fear or sadness, but tears of utter shame and despair. From across the other side of the body-filled room, a woman named Sally noticed the young girl's turmoil and pushed through the crowd to stand between her and the elder woman.

"Come on, Mrs Thorn, she's jus' a small girl." She hissed, trying desperately to make her point while also not making a scene. "Let her be for a night an' let 'er get used to everything first!"

"No, Sally. You know as well as I that it won't make no difference. Come on, now, get out there!" the last few words being directed towards Nancy herself as the elder grabbed her roughly by the arm – which was sure to bruise – and practically threw her out of the door.

Stifling a sob that threatened to escaped, Nancy wiped her now dirty hands on her skirts. _Come on, now. You're just bein' silly. It's nothing_. She tried desperately to convince herself that it was just something normal to do. But she had to face the facts. Even at such a young age, she'd known for years that to survive, you need to be willing to do anything. Even something as horrible as what she was about to do.

From behind her, Nancy heard the sound of the door slowly creaking open. Bracing herself for a possible blow from Mrs Thorn at her hesitation, she marched onwards. At least, she tried, before feeling a soft hand placed on her shoulder. A hand that seemed – dare she think it – comforting. Spinning on her heel, she stared, shocked when she saw who it was. The women who had been referred to as Sally.

"Nancy, sweet'eart, come 'ere." Reaching her arms out, she wrapped the worried girl into a caring hug. Finally letting her insistent tears pour forth, the younger of the two women returned the hug with such fervour that Sally could do nothing more than pity the girl as she stroked the mass of red hair on top of her pretty head.

"Shh…shh…come on, now, love." The woman cooed to the girl. "It's not tha' bad."

Lifting her head from Sally's shoulder, Nancy wiped at her damp eyes. "But, oh!" the girl wailed. "Oh, Sally, 'ow can I do this? I _can't_ do this! I'd rather starve."

Laughing softly at the girl's dramatics, Sally shook her head and slowly began to lead her to descend the stairs.

"Look, I know at first it seems like the most ghastly thing you can do, but ya get used to it. Maybe not completely, but ya learn to appreciate the life it can give you. I'm not gonna lie to you, the first time's hell. You're gonna want to scream an' run cryin' to whoever it was that sent you 'ere. But once you get past tonight, you'll get used to it. I promise. I know exactly how ya feel."

Casting her eyes downwards, she continued, "I was in your shoes at one point, too, ya know."

Upon conclusion of her speech, she lifted her head and cleared her throat. "Do you 'ear me?"

Nancy nodded mutely. Maybe she was right. And if she wanted to continue eating and lodging where she had been, she'd have to do it. With this thought in mind, she gave Sally another hug – the kind of hug a daughter would give a mother when she was frightened; neither of them realising, of course, that this would be exactly what their relationship would change into – and picked her chin up, smiling weakly.

----------

She walked up to the foot of the bed. She was trembling.

____________________________________________________________________________

_Well, hope this is okay so far *bites nails*_

_Sorry to leave the very first chapter on a cliffhanger! I was going to put this and some of the next chapter into one, but I felt that it had to stop here._

_Just to clarify the ages for my fanfiction…_

_In this chapter Nancy is 14, but here are the ages for the novel/movie time:_

_Nancy – 36_

_Bill Sikes – 43_

_The Artful Dodger – 15_

_Charley Bates – 13_

_Bet – 26_

_Oliver – 9_

_I didn't feel it necessary to choose an age for Fagin, it's up to your own opinion on how you view him._


	2. Authors Note

_Unfortunately, due to other interests and lack of commitment, I have decided to discontinue this story. Sorry to anyone who has read this and wished for it to continue, but as I suspect there would only be very few of you, I suggest to those people to perhaps check out my other stories instead._

_Apologies,_

_AShadowedLife_

_X._


End file.
